Agostino STEFFANI (1654 — 1728)
Vocal Chamber Duets
Pria ch'io faccia [8:33]
E così mi compatite? [7:38]
Lontananza crudel, tu mi tormenti [3:14]
Vorrei dire un non so che [7:28]
Dolce è per voi soffrire [4:56]
Gelosia, che vuoi da me? [7:33]
Saldi marmi che coprite [10:38]
Elena Bertuzzi (soprano), Alessio Tosi (tenor), Rebecca Ferri (cello), Michele
Pasotti (theorbo), Francesco Baroni (harpsichord)
rec. 19-22 June 2014, Chiesa di San Celestino, Pietole, Mantua, Italy. DDD
Texts and translations to be downloaded from Brilliant
Classics site
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94969 [50:23]
Agostino Steffani was a remarkable composer, in particular
because of the diversity of his activities. He was not only a professional
composer, but was also heavily involved in politics, especially as a diplomat,
and made a career in the Catholic Church. He was a precocious talent: as a
boy — before his voice broke — he had already participated in opera
performances. For 21 years he was in the service of Elector Ferdinand Maria
of Bavaria in Munich. He then moved to Hanover where he became music director
at the court of Elector Ernst August. In the 1690s he became increasingly
involved in diplomacy; some of his missions were connected to the War of the
Spanish Succession. In 1703 he entered the service of another Elector, Johann
Wilhelm of the Palatinate in Düsseldorf. In 1709 he returned to Hanover and
focused on his activities in the Church. It was his assignment to promote
the Counter-Reformation in a region dominated by Lutheranism. At this time
he hardly composed any music.
Steffani’s oeuvre is quite large and comprises almost exclusively vocal
music. The genre of the duet was especially important to him and his duets
were the main reason for his fame. In 1739 the German theorist and composer
Johann Mattheson wrote: “The Italian style of the duet now lacks much
of the good qualities of concentration and clarity, mentioned above, because
of its fugal, artificial and interwoven nature. However, these duets demand
a real man and are a special delight to musically-educated ears, in the chamber
as well as in the church (and formerly, in Steffani’s time, also in the
theatre), provided that accomplished and reliable singers can be found for
them; of these we now have fewer than of such works themselves. In this kind
of duet the aforesaid Steffani incomparably surpassed all other composers
known to me and deserves to be taken as a model to this day; for such things
do not easily grow old”.
Many of his duets circulated in manuscript across Europe and composers of
later generations were strongly influenced by them. One could consider the
duet the vocal counterpart of the trio sonata which was modelled by Arcangelo
Corelli. Steffani composed more than eighty duets, for various combinations
of voices. It is notable that a number of them are scored for a high voice
and a tenor. Not that many secular vocal music were written for low male voices.
Chamber cantatas — one of the most popular genres of vocal music —
were almost exclusively scored for soprano or alto, and duets for soprano
and tenor seem rather rare.
The seven duets recorded here are different in texture. The first two are
divided into four sections each of which is treated as a dacapo aria. The
third comprises just one 'aria'. The remaining four duets have the texture
of a chamber cantata: they not only comprise dacapo 'arias' but also recitatives
for either voice. Steffani's duets stand out for his treatment of counterpoint
but also his sensitivity to the text. It is unfortunate that in the document
with the lyrics which can be downloaded from the Brilliant Classics site the
Italian original and the English translations are not printed side by side
which makes it rather hard to follow exactly how Steffani has set the texts.
One quality has not been mentioned yet: melodic fluency. That can be admired
here due to the fine singing of Elena Bertuzzi and Alessio Tosi.
Although these duets have dramatic qualities, they are not dramatic in the
operatic sense of the word. There are no dialogues between opposing characters.
It is always a single character that speaks, mostly expressing his sadness
about the tribulations of love. Even when both soprano and tenor have a recitative,
it is still the same character whose voice we hear. Steffani uses the interplay
of the two voices and the possibilities of counterpoint to express the text.
It is therefore especially important that the two voices blend perfectly,
and that is exactly what we find here. The two singers are on the same wavelength
and their cooperation is exemplary. The performances are expressive and achieved
without incessant vibrato.
This disc has just one minus: the short playing time. Considering the quality
of the music and the performances and the fact that Steffani’s duets
are not that well represented on disc this is regrettable. However, the price
of Brilliant Classics discs is such that this can hardly be a reason not to
purchase this CD.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
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